The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a consignment of cocaine ingeniously concealed in 20 sets of religious books destined for Saudi Arabia.
The agency said the 20 parcels of cocaine, weighing 500 grams in total, were discovered on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at a courier company in Lagos by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) during a routine search of outbound cargo.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
The same day, NDLEA operatives at another courier facility in Lagos also intercepted five parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 2.8 kilograms, in a shipment from the United States.
The agency said the seizures were part of a nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking operations which yielded multiple arrests and drug recoveries over the past week.
In Kano State, a 22-year-old suspected drug courier, Muhammad Mohammed, was arrested along the Bichi-Kano Road while allegedly transporting 277 ampoules of pentazocine injection concealed with Sellotape on his thigh and private parts.
He was reportedly heading to Katsina to supply the drugs to bandits.
Another suspect, Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, 43, was arrested in the Rimin Kebe area of Nasarawa, Kano, with 68 blocks of skunk weighing 30 kilograms.
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, a major raid on a drug hideout along Major General Isaiah Allison Street in Opolo led to the recovery of 557.2kg of skunk, 5.6kg of methamphetamine, and 29.8 grams of heroin.
Four suspects—Sarimiye Suwa Kurtis, 46; Roland Prosper, 34; Sarimiye Tare Paul, 45; and Fidelis Ugbesla, 46—were apprehended.
Lagos operatives also recovered 1,100 kilograms of skunk from a delivery van in Surulere on Thursday, April 17.
The driver, identified as Ismail Abdullahi, was arrested.
In Kaduna, NDLEA officers raided the residence of a suspect, Ike Ani, 30, in Zaria, recovering 31,950 pills of tramadol 225mg and diazepam on Friday, April 18.
A separate operation in Kebbi State uncovered 97 kilograms of skunk hidden in charcoal bags transported from Benin Republic.
The vehicle was intercepted along Bagudo Road, and three suspects—Abubakar Ibrahim, 50; Mustapha Aliyu, 32; and Bashar Lawali, 28—were arrested.
In Anambra State, a 48-year-old man, Okafor Marcel, was arrested with 11.5 kilograms of skunk in Abatete.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Osogbo, Osun State, apprehended a woman, Ajala Mercy, 27, with 43 litres of “skushi”—a homemade cocktail of blackcurrant, cannabis, and opioids.
Also in Edo State, two cannabis farms located in Egbeta forest, Ovia North-East Local Government Area, were raided and destroyed.
The agency said it burned over 3,700kg of cannabis plants spread across 1.48 hectares and recovered an additional 136.5kg of processed cannabis.
At Tincan Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers arrested Basorun Usman Kayode, 40, a suspect linked to the 2023 seizure of 107 kilograms of Loud imported from Canada.
He had reportedly been on the run for two years. Another suspect, Dauda Yakubu, was arrested within the seaport community for distributing illicit drugs.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the agency’s operatives across various state commands for their successful seizures and arrests.
Marwa praised the agency’s consistent efforts in balancing drug supply reduction with demand reduction initiatives, describing the achievements as a reflection of NDLEA’s renewed commitment to dismantling drug networks nationwide.
Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity for a product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 Email: platformtimes@gmail.com
We are committed to impactful investigative journalism for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell more stories. Kindly donate any amount HERE
